Sister of the Bunch
by Swordwoman-Briana
Summary: [FE6] Lot and Ward knew that an Ilian was going to join the mercenary group. But the young knight was not what they had in mind...
1. Chapter 1

**Briana: Well, here we go again... Another fanfiction by yours truly!  
****Ooggle: Fanfiction... Meaning you don't own FE6, right?  
****Briana: Sadly, yes...But please enjoy, anyway!**

---

It was a cool night on the Western Isles. One man sat near a campfire in deep thought, as two younger men lay in the grass a few yards from the fire, looking up at the sky...  
"Say, Lot..."  
Lot turned around and faced his childhood friend, Ward. He rose his voice slightly, as if to ask a question.  
"What do you think this new member's going to be like?" The brown-haired fighter continued.

The orange-haired fighter looked quietly at his friend, before shifting his gaze back to the night sky.  
"...I don't know..."

"Well, that doesn't help any!" Ward groaned.

"I know, but..." Lot thought for a moment. "All we know is that he's a knight of Ilia... Seeing as how we've never been there, it's hard to make a guess about the people there..."

Ward looked at his friend in annoyance for a moment, before turning his attention to the other man.  
"Hey, Bro!"

"Hm?" Dieck looked at the fighter from the corners of his eyes.

"I thought that knight was supposed to come today!" he began. "Why isn't he here yet?!"

The mercanary thought about the question for a moment.  
"...Well, Ilia is pretty far away from here... Distance is a factor."

Ward sighed with anger and turned his attention back to Lot, and started complaining. However, Dieck was too lost in thought to hear their words...  
' ...But seriously, where could she be? I thought she'd be here by now... I'd heard she was a new Pegasus Knight, so maybe she- - -'

Suddenly, the sound of a pegasus filled the air, disrupting his thoughts. He noticed the two fighters rise up and look to the sky. Sure enough, a pegasus was flying down toward them. On it rode a young, blue-haired girl.

"What the...?" Ward questioned.

Just after he spoke, the creature landed on the ground in front of them, and the girl smiled as she pet it gently.  
"That's a good girl!" she cooed. "Now..." She smiled as she jumped off of her partner.

'Who is this girl?' Lot thought silently.

"Hello!" she greeted Dieck happily. "Are you the leader of these mercenaries?"

"Yes, and you..."

"Lot!" Ward whispered to his fellow fighter. "Who is that girl?!"

"I don't know..." The other man glanced at Dieck and the cheery lass. "Ilia has messenger Pegasus Knights for their men's brigade... Maybe she's one of them?"

"But why would she be here?! Do you think that knight might have died?!"

"Perhaps..."

Dieck looked over impatiently and seen them whispering among themselves.  
"Ward! Lot! Pay attention!"

"Y-yes, Bro!" the two gasped in unison.

"Now, I have someone to introduce to you..."

Both men looked around in confusion, wondering who he could've been talking about. The new member of their mercenary group was supposed to had arrived that day, so naturally, they would've thought that was who Dieck was talking about. However, only this young Pegasus Knight had appeared. Neither of them could comprehend what was going on.

Dieck noticed their confused behavior, and turned to the girl.  
"This is our newest member"

Both fighters gasped as they heard their leader's words. The girl, not noticing their shock, smiled and cheerfully introduced herself as Thany, a Pegasus Knight in training...  
Lot and Ward, however, still couldn't fully grasp what was happening. Their newest member... Was a little girl?!

**---**

**Briana: Cliffhanger! Dun dun dun!  
****Ooggle: ...Weird girl...  
****Briana: So what? Anyway, that's chapter one! Review and I'll work harder on the next chapter!  
****Ooggle: Or else! Dun dun dun!  
****Briana: ...And you say I'm wierd...?  
****Ooggle: ...On another note, didn't you have something to say?  
****Briana: Ah, yes! I've always known the brown-haired figher as 'Ward'. So please don't try to tell me otherwise in your reply(if you choose to at all). I won't fuss with you if you won't fuss with me! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Ooggle: A new chapter, eh? About time!  
****Briana: Oh, shut it! I've been way too busy with school to post this chapter...  
****Ooggle: Oh well... I can still say 'finally', right?  
****Briana: ...**

---

Lot and Ward looked at Dieck and Thany, the young pegasus knight, in disbelief...

'What the heck...?!' Ward thought to himself.

"Uh. Um..." Lot stuttered. "Bro, is this..."  
Dieck's head tilted slightly.  
"...A joke?"

"Yeah, seriously!" Ward spat out before anyone else could speak. "You can't honestly mean that this little brat is part or our group!"

Thany's eyes widened slightly at the fighter's words.  
"Her name's _Thany_!" Dieck replied defensively.

"So what?! A brat is still a brat, no matter what her name is!"

The pegasus knight looked at the two older men in sadness. The mercenary noticed her frown, and looked at her apologetically.  
"...Thany, would you mind going in one of the tents?" he spoke in a soft voice. "I'll be with you shortly."

"...Yes..."

He watched her slowly walk toward one of the tents. After she entered it, his attention turned to the two fighters, his eyes filled with anger.Lot found himself unable to say anything. Ward, however, muttered some words under his breath.

"I am very ticked off at you two!" Dieck growled. "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"

"I'm... Sorry..." Lot frowned.

"And you, Ward?"  
The fighter didn't say anything.  
"Ward?"

"...Bro..." he finally muttered with his head facing the ground, before looking up and facing Dieck angerly. "Why did you allow a little girl to join our group?!"

"That's enough of this 'little girl' crap!"

"But- - -"

Dieck sighed in impatience.  
"...Incase you didn't know, Ilia has a poor economy. Therefore, it's citizens live as mercenaries, accepting low pay..."

"So, you hired her because of her ambition?..." Lot asked.  
The older man became silent.  
"...Or was it... _sympathy_?"

"What?!" Ward gasped.

"...That's it." the mercenary nodded.

"Whoa! Hold on a minute!" the brown-haired fighter waved his hands in the air in a confused manner. "You mean it was Bro's... soft side?!"

"Now _listen_, you..."

-

Meanwhile, in one of the tents, Thany lay on her stomach, trying to fight back her tears as she wrote a letter...

_Big Sister Yuno,  
__How are you? I'm glad to say that I managed to find the mercenary group who hired me without much trouble. Getting to the Western Isles wasn't as hard as I expected... Must be because my pegasus is in good shape. So is my lance. But don't worry; I still have the red gem you gave me just incase I need to sell it for money!  
__...But, I can't say if accepting this job was worth it or not. The leader seems nice enough, but... The other members of the mercenaries seem to hate me... Sure, I'm going to try to stay positive, but- - -_

"Thany?" Dieck interrupted her as he entered the tent.

The girl gasped as she quickly hid the letter to her oldest sister.  
"M-Mr. Dieck?!"

"Are you alright?" he questioned as he sat next to her.

"Y-yes! I'm fine! I- - -" She replied, trying to smile.

"You don't have to lie. I can tell you're upset." he broke in, looking at her with sympathy.  
She remained quiet, but nodded slightly.  
"I'm sorry about what Ward and Lot said." he continued. "They didn't really mean it, though."

"Really?" Thany continued to look up at him, excitement returning in her high-pitched voice.

"Yeah. Actually, I bet it'll just take a day or two, and they'll love you."

"That's great!"

"Yeah, well..." he tried not to laugh. "Don't get too excited. We're going to be busy training tomorrow, and you'll need you're sleep."

"Okay." She answered, followed by a yawn. "I am pretty tired, after all. So, what tent am I staying in?"

"This one. I doubt Ward and Lot would want you in their tent."

"Yeah, you're probably right..."

"But, you see..."  
The young girl's head titled slightly, waiting for him to continue..  
"There...are only two tents here... So that means- - -"

"Are you _serious_?!" she cried in embarrassment, her face bright red. "We're going to sleep in the same tent?!"

"...I guess so..." The mercenary nodded, trying to ignore her energetic reaction. "You better not snore."

"Oh! Don't worry! I'm not bad with snoring!" she laughed. "Well..." she smiled as she covered her body with the nearest blanket, trying to cast away her recent thoughts. "Good night!"

"Heh heh... Good night, Thany."  
He couldn't help but smile as he looked at her. He normally wasn't so kind to young girls, though, so he couldn't understand why he was so nice to_ her_... Maybe Ward was right... Maybe...

"Dieck..." her tired voice interrupted his thoughts.

"...What now?"

"...Thank you for accepting me..."

"...Don't get cocky, kid..." he tried sounding harsh, but she could tell he didn't mean any harm...

**  
---  
**

**Briana: Well, there's the second chapter! Please review, and hope that I won't be too busy to do the next chapter!  
****Ooggle: Yeah, review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Briana: Here it is! Chapter three!  
****Ooggle: I thought it was going to be sooner then this...  
****Briana: I did too, but you never know what's going to come up for me...  
****Ooggle: ...**

**-**

That next morning, Thany laid asleep, as Dieck looked down at her...  
"Thany..."  
The young girl murmured something while turning her body to the other direction.  
"Thany." the mercenary repeated, a bit louder.

Slowly, the tired knight opened her eyes and looked up at him.  
"...Mr. Dieck?"

"It's time to get up." He explained. "Come on out whenever you're ready."

"Okay..." she nodded, still half-asleep.

He nodded as he left the tent and she forced herself onto her feet. She quickly thought over what had happened the night before, and decided that this day would be a fresh new start. She smiled as she walked out of the tent, but the result wasn't to pleasing to her...

"Oh, look who finally got up!" Ward exclaimed. "It's_ about _time!"

Lot tried to hide his laughter, but was failing.  
"He's right, Thany."

"Give her a break." Dieck replied defensively. "This_ is _her first day here, remember."

"I'm sorry!" she cried, bowing slightly. "I'll try harder next time!"

"That's okay." Dieck smiled sympathetically as he motioned for her to sit on a tree stump next to him. She did so, and faced him, noticing he had something to say. "Now listen up gang, we had planned on training today, but we're running low on food." he started. "Ward, it's your turn to do the chores, so you can go hunt something for us today."

"What?! Me?!" the fighter's eyes widened. "But, Bro...!"

"Ward..."

Ward searched his thoughts, trying to think of a way to get out of the job he was just assigned. Then, it hit him...  
"Can't you just get _Thany_ to do it?! She hasn't done _any_ of our chores yet!"

Dieck thought about this for a moment.  
"Great idea! Take her with you!"

The pegasus knight's eyes grew in surprise.  
"That... _That's_ not what I had in mind!" Ward cried.

"So, you don't always get what you want." the older man answered.

"Alright then!" Thany suddenly cried, running over to her new partner, who silently cursed his luck.

Lot could help but chuckle as he looked over at his childhood friend.  
" Heh heh... Have fun."

"Shut it..." Ward growled before Thany started dragging him to the woods nearby. Dieck watched them in wonder.

'I wonder if this is going to work out...'

-

"Okay..." Ward sighed in pain after he was free of Thany's grasp. "What should we get?"

The knight thought about it for a moment. "...Maybe some rabbit?"

"Well then... If you can come up with something, you should hunt it."

"What?!" she gasped. "Me, by myself?!"

"What? Can't you do it yourself?"

"No, I know how to hunt, but... We're supposed to work together..."

"..."

"...That's what Mr. Dieck said..."

Ward looked at Thany out of the corner of his eyes, her eyes filled with sadness.  
"...Oh, all right! Fine! You win! We can both hunt down some rabbit!"

"All right!" she smiled. "Now, Let's see..." she replied, looking at the ground. Then she spotted some tracks, and excitedly bent down to observe them closely.

"What kind are they?" the fighter asked, leaning in a bit.

"...Hm... They do look like rabbit tracks, but..."

"Ah! There it is!" he gasped as he pointed to a white rabbit nearby.

"Oh! Great!" she smirked. "Now let's- - -"

"Die, stupid rabbit!" he yelled before she could finish. He then drew his axe and tried hitting the animal. However, his speed wasn't the best, so each attempt ended in failure. "Hey! Get back here, you stupid thing!"

"Um... Ward?! Ward!"

"Gah..." he turned around, panting heavily. "W-what?"

"You, uh... Can't get it like that..."

"...You _can't_?"

"...This is going to be a long day, huh?" she frowned. The man gave her no answer. "I guess I should tell you about what my brother-in-law taught me about hunting..."

-

"...Hey, Bro?" Lot spoke up. Dieck looked at him questioningly. "Why did send Thany with Ward? You know how he is..."

"Yeah, and that's why." Dieck answered.  
The orange-haired fighter tilted his head. The mercenary wasn't making any sense...  
"He needs to get used to her, so I figured doing things with her would help."

"Oh..."

"You'd better expect doing something with her, too. In the near future."

"What?! B-but, Bro!" he cried, before narrowly dodging Dieck's sword. "Whoa!"

"Heh heh!" Dieck chuckled. "Be prepared for anything, Lot!"

-

"Ha!"  
Ward _once again _attempted to pin a poor rabbit to the ground with his body. However, the rabbit _once again _jumped out of his path, causing him to land face-first on the rocky ground.

"...Not quite..." Thany observed his movements.

"Shoot!"

"Don't get discouraged!" she smiled. "I'm sure the ninth turn could be a charm!"

"No! I give up!" he cried, and she looked at him sympathetically. "You try!"

She nodded, and started observing the ground for more tracks. She noticed a pair and bent down to observe them.  
"Hm... I don't think these are rabbit tracks..."

"Uh, Thany...!" Ward gasped.

"...Definitely bigger..."

"Listen! We better go! Now!"

"Um... I think Zealot identified these kinds of tracks as those of a..."

"Thany!"

Th knight finally heard his cries, but was only able to look up at the brown creature in front of her.

"..._Bear_..."

The bear growled rather loudly, and the two quickly rushed away, with it following them.

"I was_ trying _to tell you!" Ward screamed while running.

"I-I'm sorry!

"Now, what can we do?!"

"Uh! Um!"

Ward gasped as he grabbed her and pinned to a nearby tree, on the side opposite of the bear.

"H-hey!" Thany gasped, her face slightly red.

"Shut up! Maybe we can hide from it!" he whispered with anger.

"Then what?!" she questioned. "We stay here for the rest of our lives?!"

"Uh..."

"Let me handle this!" the young knight pleaded. "I can do it!"  
The fighter looked at her in silence for a moment, then let her move.  
"Okay..." she looked around for a moment, before gasped and grabbing a large rock that laid on the ground. "This should be good..."

"What are you doing?! Trying to get us killed?!" he gasped.

"No. Trying to save us..." She then smirked slightly.  
'And gain your respect!'

"I-I can't watch!" he shuddered as she covered his eyes in an unusual fear.

"Here goes nothing...! Ah!" She cried as she aimed and threw the rock at the bear's head.

Ward was afraid to look as he heard a loud cry, unable to determine who it was. He remained still for a moment, before looking up slowly.  
"...Huh?" To his surprise, the bear lay silently on the ground, and Thany looked down at it, slightly shocked herself.

"...I _did_ it..."

"I'll say... Should we kill it, now?"

"I guess so."

-

"Ah..." Lot groaned as his sweaty body fell to the ground, his axe slipping from his hands. "Bro... I give up... Let's call it a match..." he panted.

"Heh heh..." Dieck chuckled, pointing his sword at the fighter. "If you don't improve, you'll be a hindrance on the battle field."

"Yeah, but... _Just for now_- - -"

"Hey!" a familiar voice interrupted them.

"Huh?" Dieck's eyes widened slightly. He knew the voice too well...

"Mr. Dieck! Lot!" Thany cried happily from a distance. Ward followed in a slightly slower pace, because of the heavy load on his back.

"Oh... _Elimine_...!" Lot gasped in disbelief.

"W-what are you carrying, Ward?!" Dieck questioned.

"A _bear_!" Thany answered for him. "We hunted it!"

"W-we're going to eat good tonight!" Ward stuttered, in sight pain.

Lot quickly rose up and rushed toward them as they told their story about the bear. Dieck watched them in amusement as he crossed his arms and smiled slightly.

'Looks like it worked out after all...' he thought silently. '...Good work, Thany...'

**-**

**Ooggle: Well, there it is, obviously!  
****Briana: Yes, but don't expect things to be over just becasue this chapter ended happily... There's more to come!  
****Ooggle: Yes, so please review!**


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